The Racket

On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation – and the other 99%

Conor Niland

$45

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Sandycove
06 July 2024

Autobiography: sport; Tennis

A contemporary of Federer, Nadal and the Williams sisters brings us inside the strange and fascinating world of pro tennis

When Conor Niland was 16, he got the chance to hit with Serena Williams at Nick Bollettieri's famed tennis academy. Conor, the Irish junior number one, was feeling a bit homesick. Serena, also 16, already owned her own house beside the academy.

Conor Niland knows what it's like when Roger Federer walks into the dressing room ('Ciao, bonjour, hello!'), and he has had the exquisitely terrible experience of facing Novak Djokovic in the world's biggest tennis stadium - while suffering from food poisoning. But he never reached the very top.

The Racket is the story of pro tennis's 99%- the players who roam the globe in hope of climbing the rankings and squeaking into the Grand Slam tournaments. It brings us into a world where a few dozen super-rich players - travelling with coaches and physios - share a stage with lonely touring pros whose earnings barely cover their expenses. Painting a vivid picture of the social dynamics on tour, the economics of the game, and the shadows cast by gambling and doping, The Racket is a witty and revealing underdog's memoir and a unique look inside a fascinating hidden world.

By: Conor Niland
Imprint: Sandycove
Country of Publication: Ireland
Dimensions: Height: 224mm, Width: 144mm, Spine: 29mm
Weight: 426g
ISBN: 9781844886401
ISBN 10: 1844886409
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 06 July 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Conor Niland grew up in Limerick, and was Ireland's top-ranked tennis player for much of his youth and all of his adult career. As a youth player he beat Roger Federer - and he still has his coach's notes on the match. His career peaked in 2011, when he reached the main draw of both Wimbledon and the US Open. He lives in Dublin with his wife and two children.

Reviews for The Racket: On Tour with Tennis’s Golden Generation – and the other 99%

The Racket is as elegant and powerful as a Federer backhand – a rich, mordant, affecting portrait of the occasional triumphs and frequent indignities of the low-ranked professional tennis player. I really loved it. It’s Kitchen Confidential for tennis. -- Ed Caesar Conor Niland may only have managed a career-high ranking of 129 – only? that is some achievement in itself! – but The Racket, his account of how he managed this, is up there with the best half-dozen books on tennis ever written. -- Geoff Dyer